


I Find the Whole Thing So Frustrating

by dearzoemurphy



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: F/F, Post canon, Realization of Feelings, cady is a distinguished bi, confession of feelings, damian is the wingman, fluff with light angst, janis is a disaster bi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 09:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15021350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: Janis realizes, with the help of Damien, that maybe she is a little jealous. Maybe she is a little in love. And maybe, the girl’s had her heart since day one.





	I Find the Whole Thing So Frustrating

**Author's Note:**

> Hi this is my first regular Mean Girls + Janis/Cady fic, so I hope everyone enjoys!’

“Where’s Cady today?” Damian asked as he and Janis placed their trays down on their normal table and sat opposite each other.

His friend shrugged. “I don’t know, probably with Aaron,” she grumbled, slightly upset.

“Is the one and only Janis Sarkisian actually jealous right now?” Damian asked sarcastically.

Janis’ cheeks flushed. “I’m not jealous! What…what makes you think that?” she protested.

Her friend raised an eyebrow. “Honey, it’s not hard to see the way you look at her when she talks about him,” he argued.

“It’s not because I like her! I just…think she deserves someone better than him,” Janis said defensively.

“In what way?” Damian pushed.

“Well…he…he dated Regina, so obviously he’s so superficial, right? And Cady’s been losing her mind over him just because he’s hot and just…you know?” she replied, exasperated.

“Well, you also had a thing for Regina, so…” Damian mumbled.

Janis almost launched herself across the table, fork in hand, pointed right at his jugular. “Don't say anything else about that, or I will stab you,” she said darkly.

Damian laughed. “Aw, you really are in love. You only get this defensive when you’re deep in the shit,” he said, a bold move for a man with a fork hovering millimeters above his jugular vein.

The remark should have made Janis even angrier, but it only caused her to slump dejectedly back into her seat. “Maybe…maybe I do,” she grumbled, placing the fork down on her tray.

“Maybe you what?” Damian prompted teasingly, smirking.

“Maybe I do like her,” Janis responded, barely above a whisper.

Her friend beamed, and reached over to pat her arm. “There, there, sweet Janis. You’ll be alright,” he said.

Janis pouted. “Why does it always have to be like this! First Ella, then Bryce, Alyssa, Regina…and now Cady,” she mumbled.

“What makes you think Cady will turn out like the rest of them?” Damian inquired.

“They all have a common denominator, don’t they? Me. I’m the problem. I’m the reason they were all disasters,” Janis said, pushing her tray out of the way and collapsing on the table.

“Well, they didn’t all end in disaster. Ella-“ Damian started, attempting to life his friend’s spirits.

“Stopped talking to me after I told her I liked her,” Janis finished.

“What about Bryce?” he offered.

“I broke up with him because I needed space and then did nothing but pine for him for the rest if the year. And now he has an insanely hot girlfriend,” she grumbled.

“But Alyssa-“

“Flirted with me for a whole entire party, then started dating a random guy the very next day,” Janis said, resting her head on her folded up arms.

Damian patted Janis on the shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said simply, “I know this is rough for you, but you gotta deal with it instead of letting it build up and bubble over,” he added.

“Why me…” Janis moaned, upset.

“Hey, maybe next movie night, I can leave you two alone for a bit to talk things out? And if you’re floundering, I can come in and save you,” Damian offered.

Janis lifted her head and thought for a moment. “That could work, I just…don’t know if I’m ready to tell her, I’m happy with the way things are now,” she said, “and besides, she’s still with Aaron,” she added.

Damian shrugged. “Do whatever you want, I can give you some alone time no matter what though,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

The brunette smacked him on the arm from across the table. “Stop it,” she whined.

Her friend simply laughed and shook his head as she fumed silently, burying her head in her hands.

* * *

  Later that week, Cady didn't show up at Janis and Damian’s table during lunch, even though it was again, her day to sit with them. Janis was looking frantically around the lunchroom, especially in the direction of Gretchen and Karen. The girl in question wasn't there either.

“I'm going to check the bathroom and make sure she's not in there, she's not answering any of my texts,” Janis said, standing up, slightly panicked.

“Alright,” Damian said simply, preoccupied with unfinished Chemistry homework.

Janis was already halfway across the cafeteria to the bathrooms, suspiciously desperate to find Cady. Once inside, she glanced around and saw no other girls, but after a moment, she heard muffled sobbing.

“Hello?” she called out, walking slowly down the line of stalls to find the source of the noise.

Silence hung in the air for a moment before another girl responded. “Who is it?” she asked in return.

“It's Janis. I can go if you want or-” she started, not sure who was in the stall, but suspecting it was Cady.

A stall door was thrown open and Janis peeked inside, confirming her suspicions.

“Hey sweetie, what's up?” Janis asked sweetly, sliding down to the floor and sitting across from Cady, who was curled into a ball against a wall of the stall.

“Janis…how'd you know I was here?” the other girl simply asked.

“You didn't come to the table, and I didn't see you with Gretchen or Karen, either,” the brunette explained.

Cady nodded. “That would make sense,” she said quietly, using a shirt sleeve to wipe her nose.

“Here…” Janis said, digging a tissue pack out of her jacket pocket and handing it to her, “take care of yourself.”

“Thanks,” Cady said fumbling with the package but eventually blowing her nose.

“So…do you want to talk about what happened or do you just need some hugs?” her friend asked.

Cady sniffled. “I…Aaron and I broke up,” she choked out.

“Oh honey…I'm so sorry,” Janis said sincerely.

“It’s okay. We're still friends, we just…it needed to happen. We need some space and time away from each other,” the strawberry blonde explained.

“What went wrong?” the brunette asked, confused.

Cady shrugged. “He wants to focus on school and getting scholarships or something. I've been neglecting my other friends to hang out with him. We made each other happy, but it's just not the right time for both of us,” she said between sniffles.

Janis scooted over to her friend and gently draped her arms around her. “I'm sorry,” she said again.

“Thanks for coming to find me. I'm not…angry. It was a mutual thing. But it's still…” Cady started.

“Frustrating?” her friend finished.

“Yeah. Frustrating,” the strawberry blonde said, resting her head on Janis’s shoulder.

“Being ‘the bigger person’ and mature sucks,” the brunette added.

“You can say that again,” Cady mumbled, dabbing her eyes with a tissue and leaning further into Janis.

“You still up for going to the mall later or do you need some time alone?” Janis asked, rubbing Cady’s shoulder.

Cady sighed. “I don't think I could handle that,” she said simply.

“That's alright, I didn't think you would be up for it, but we're here for you. Whatever you need whenever you need it,” Janis replied.

“Thanks, Janis. I just need some time alone, but I'm still up for movie night Friday. It’ll will be good for me. I can't spend a lot of time and tears on this, it ended well and for good reason, so I just need to move on,” Cady said, her tears slowing down.

“God, I wish I had your conviction. After a break up, I cry and watch rom coms while eating ice cream alone for at least a week afterwards,” Janis said humorously.

Cady giggled. “Really? I wouldn't see you as that type,” she said, still blotting at her tears.

Janis smiled slightly. “You know by now that I'm full of surprises,” she said, resting her head on top of her friend’s and rubbing her back.

* * *

 

Movie night rolled around for the trio, and it was Damian’s turn to host. Him and Janis had made it their solemn duty to educate Cady on everything she’d missed by growing up in an isolated locale with no television, showing her everything from Beauty and the Beast (her personal favorite) to The Ring (Janis’s favorite, because Cady spent almost the entire runtime curled up in her lap), and simultaneously introducing her to the wonderful world of American junk food.

This movie night was especially important since it was the first one since Cady and Aaron’s breakup. The girl hadn't left her house for anything except school since it happened, and struggled to return concerned texts from Damian, Gretchen, Karen, and Janis. The first contact she had with anyone was texting Janis on Thursday night asking for a ride the next day.

Friday night, Janis came to pick Cady up, briefly saying hello to the Herons before grabbing their daughter and shoving her in the front seat of her sedan.

“How are you holding up? It’s been a while since we've heard from you,” Janis said, pulling out of the driveway.

Cady shrugged. “I'm alright. Sorry I haven't been returning anyone’s texts, I just hide away when shit gets rough and can't respond. Also I've just been sleeping a lot to avoid everything,” she said.

Janis smiled good naturedly. “I'm glad you're okay. And don't worry about it, we all just wanted to make sure everything was fine. You might want to check in with Karen and Gretchen, they came and asked me how you were doing yesterday,” she suggested.

“Oh, I did! Just today, I hadn't had the energy to respond to Gretchen’s twenty texts and Karen’s compliments until now. Both mean well, but…you know,” the other girl replied.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Janis said.

The pair fell into silence for a minute before Cady decided to break it. “So, what fantastic adventure are we going on tonight?” she asked, looking towards to drivers’ seat.

“Well…we thought we’d be generous and give you some options this week,” Janis started.

“An extremely charitable act,” Cady joked.

The brunette laughed. “Okay, so, we can either watch Wall-E, a Disney movie about two robots who fall in love, or The Shining, a horror movie about demon possessions and shit,” she finished.

“Um, I like, love Disney movies and hate horror movies, so I’m gonna go with the first option,” Cady said, shivering.

“I told Damian he was delusional for thinking you’d pick The Shining,” Janis grumbled.

The strawberry blonde laughed. “You know me best,” she said, beaming.

Janis’s heart leaped into her throat and she almost swerved the car into a ditch. _“This precious little- does she know what she’s doing?!”_ she thought, but all she said was “you know it!”

A few minutes later, the two reached Damian’s house and went inside to find him and his mom in the kitchen.

“Janis, Cady, is that you?” his mom called as the two of them took off their shoes at the door.

“Yes Ms. Hubbard,” Janis called back as they wandered into the kitchen. They turned the corner to see their friend and Ms. Hubbard pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven.

“Oh my god, I think I could eat all of those right now,” Janis said upon spying the tray.

“Oh, I know you could, sweetie,” Damian’s mom replied, laughing, “c’mere and give me a hug, sweetheart,” she said, setting down the cookies and holding her arms out. Janis gratefully accepted it and wrapped her arms around the woman.

Ms. Hubbard looked up over Janis’s shoulder. “You too, Cady. You don’t get out of it just because I haven’t known you since diapers,” she said teasingly, letting go of Janis and pouncing on Cady.

“Mommm, don’t scare my friends away,” Damian groaned, transferring the cookies to a plate and gathering up all the Capri Sun he could carry in both arms.

Cady giggled. “Don’t worry, she’s not scaring me away. This is nice,” she said as Ms. Hubbard smiled at her, as if she’d just been let in on a secret.

Janis stood slightly behind the copper haired girl, an unconscious smile and slight blush gracing her face. Damian didn’t fail to take note of her condition, and simply leaned on the counter and smirked at her. She shot him a death glare in return once she noticed him.

“Alright, we’ll be in the basement if you need us,” Damian said, sweeping up their supplies and pushing past everyone to lead the charge downstairs.

“I’ll be up here if you kids need anything! And-“ his mother started, grabbing Janis and Cady once Damian was out of sight, “let me know if he gets to be too much,” she finished, winking at both girls.

Janis laughed. “Will do, Ms. Hubbard,” she said, then turned and led Cady down the stairs to Damian’s veritable man cave. It was different than the stereotypical one, with posters for different musicals replacing sports paraphernalia, giant plush couches instead of leather chairs, and the faint scent of roses instead of whatever disgusting scent most men favored for their spaces, but Janis still called it his man cave nonetheless.

“So, I’m assuming you picked The Shining, Cady?” Damian asked, setting up the DVD player.

“Um, no, I chose Wall-E,” she replied sheepishly.

“What?! I thought for sure you weren’t gonna want to watch any sappy stuff right after a bad breakup,” Damian exclaimed.

“Well, I am full of surprises,” she said, laughing lightly and gazing at Janis.

Janis blushed involuntarily. _“That’s…that’s the same thing I said to her a few days ago,”_ she thought, becoming more flustered each second Cady didn’t break eye contact.

“Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn you when the robots fall in love,” he said, producing a giant bowl of popcorn that he’d already brought to the basement.

The movie started playing and instantly, Cady was engrossed in it.

“This is what I was missing out on? This is amazing,” she said, amazed, halfway through the opening sequence.

“That’s why we’re catching you up!” Janis replied, giggling ever so slightly.

Cady simply turned to smile at her, then turned back to the movie.

Two bowls of popcorn, the entire plate of cookies, and most of the Capri Suns later, they reached the sequence where Wall-E and Eve dance in space, which Cady proclaimed the most beautiful thing she’d seen on a screen.

“I’m gonna run and go get some more snacks,” Damian whispered.

“Okay,” Cady whispered back, not peeling her eyes away from the TV.

Damian moved over to the motionless Janis, and grabbed her knee. “Now’s your chance,” he said, winking.

“Wait, what?! No, I haven’t-” Janis whispered back frantically, trying to catch her friend on his way out, but he made it to the stairs before she could react.

“Oh also, Cady,” he called from across the room.

Janis went into panic mode, frantically miming to him from the couch, trying to tell him to stop doing what he was doing in every way she could think of.

Cady looked up, and Damian’s maniacal grin only widened. “Janis has something she’d like to tell you while I’m gone,” he said, then vanished, as if by magic.

Janis was now beet red, trying her best to sink into the couch, but to no avail.

“Janis? What’s up?” Cady asked, tilted her head and turning towards her friend.

“Oh! Um, nothing, Damian’s just teasing me,” the brunette replied, laughing nervously.

“Are you sure it’s nothing? You seem awfully nervous,” the other girl prodded.

“Oh my god, there’s no hiding from this girl,” Janis thought, her panic rising slightly.

“Nope! Nothing at all just-” she started.

“Janis, I can tell you have something you want to say. So, say it!” Cady said, smiling broadly.

Janis couldn’t believe she was about to do this. No, she wasn’t. She could just make something up. Something about a plastic or make up a fake crush or-

“I like you! I…think I have for a while. Basically since you moved here,” she exclaimed, shocking both herself and Cady.

The other girl looked bewildered, so Janis rushed to fix the situation.

“Um…this is so awkward and it's so soon after your breakup, I didn't mean to do this I'm so sorry,” she spewed, silently praying for Damian to return right then.

“Oh, Janis, don't worry about it. I can't believe you've held onto it for this long,” Cady replied, sounding almost shocked.

The brunette gave a small smile. “Thanks for being so understanding. Like, unbelievably understanding,” she said, cracking up slightly.

“Yeah, of course! You’re my best friend, and…” Cafy started and trailed off.

“...and what?” a curious Janis prompted.

“I guess…I guess it's because I might feel the same way,” Cady choked out, staring off into space away from the other girl.

Janis almost had a heart attack right and on the spot. “You…what? You fucking…” she sputtered.

Cady laughed slightly uncomfortably. “I guess I might like you too!” she exclaimed.

“Honey, you just got out of a relationship, please don't-” Janis started, but was suddenly cut off.

The strawberry blonde launched across the couch and landed on Janis’s lap, throwing her arms around the girl and crashing their lips together in one swift motion. Janis remained completely still and in shock until Cady pulled away.

“Oh my god I'm so sorry, I just…had to know,” Cady explained upon seeing the dazed look on Janis’s face.

Janis tilted her head, still confused. “Know what?” she inquired.

“If…if I did feel that way,” Cady responded, still in the other girl’s lap with arms draped over her shoulders.

“Do you?” Janis asked breathlessly in return.

“I think I do,” the strawberry blonde started, “but I should try again to make sure,” she said in a quiet, husky voice that made Janis practically get goosebumps.

“Okay,” was all Janis could say in return, dazed, confused, and suppressing excitement as Cady leaned in again and gingerly planted a chaste kiss on her mouth. This one was gentler than the last, more calculated and less impulsive. When Cady drew away, all Janis wanted was to be able to do this for an eternity.

“Wow. That was…” Cady began.

“Incredible. But…we need to talk about this. Seriously,” Janis said, shifting so Cady moved off her lap to her side.

“I think I know what you're going to say,” the other girl said sadly, biting her lip.

“Yeah. We need to wait. I wouldn't feel comfortable starting anything four days after a breakup. At least we should wait five more business days before initiating anything,” Janis said, adding a touch of humor to her tone near the end.  
  
Cady crinkled her nose and nodded. “You're right. That's probably smart. But…” she said.

“But what?” Janis asked.

“I really, really want to kiss you again,” the girl replied.

Janis shrugged, losing any good sense of judgement she had. “I think I can manage that,” she said, turning over and grabbing the collar of Cady’s flannel, pulling her in for another kiss.

The two girls melted together, Janis hooking her fingers in Cady’s hair, the other girl’s arms working themselves around Janis’s waist. Cady leaned forward, gently pushing the other girl down onto the throw pillows on the couch. Janis grinned at her forwardness, and the pair continued to kiss and pull away to breathe, then dive right back in, like they needed each other as much as they needed air.

They carried on without a care in the world until they were interrupted by a sudden squeal from Damian.

“Oh my god, I leave for one second and now you're making out already?!” he exclaimed, a huge grin spreading on his face, “and Cady’s taking charge?!” he added.

Cady shot up, still on top of Janis. “It's not what it looks like!” she shrieked.

“It's exactly what it looks like,” Janis said, smiling lazily, trapped in a daze.

Damian couldn't stop looking between the two of them and grinning; Janis lying on the couch, her hair fanned out behind her and Cady sitting right on top of her, not thinking to move yet. “I mean, we have an extra bedroom if you want to…” he started.

“No!” Cady yelped, turning bright red and leaping off of Janis.

Janis calmly sat up. “Damian, please don't tell anyone about this yet,” she said.

“Why not?” he asked, resuming his place on the floor in his giant beanbag, setting a bowl of popcorn beside him.

“We’re…waiting a while to make any important decisions,” she responded, maturely. Cady simply nodded as she rejoined Janis on the couch, curled up next to her.

“Decisions like who’s on top?” Damian asked, trying to maintain an innocent facade, but cracking up halfway through.

Cady buried her burning face in her hands. “No…no, not that. I just want to take some time to recover from Aaron,” she explained.

Damian shrugged. “Alright, whatever you say. I'll try not to laugh when I catch you two making out in a stairwell on Tuesday,” he said, rewinding the movie back to where it was before he left and starting it again before either of his friends could protest.

Both Janis and Cady’s faces were bright red as they sat at opposite ends of the couch in embarrassment at having been caught.

Several moments later, Janis broke the burning, tense silence that filled the room. “Hey…do you want to snuggle or something? I know we’re not dating yet, but…” she whispered, slightly terrified.

Cady responded only by sliding over right into the other’s open arms, laying her head on Janis’s shoulder and accepting her embrace. Janis released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding since Damian cave back into the room. As the two girls relaxed, they were struck by how…nice this felt. How they felt like two puzzle pieces finally clicked together. It was a nice feeling, as Damian crunched on popcorn, the robots fought back against the evils of corporate society, and Janis drifted off to sleep, arms wrapped protectively around her new maybe-girlfriend, and a giant smirk spread across her entire face. 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, please leave any thoughts in the comments below, as well as maybe some ideas for other Mean Girls stuff I should write?? ((prompts, pairings, etc.)) I want to write more in universe, but for once, have no ideas, so if you leave one, I might turn it into a fic!! Okay that’s all for now, see you guys around <3


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